Why has Tyler, The Creator been banned from the UK?

He's been banned by the UK government for 3–5 years. You can thank our Home Secretary, Theresa May, for this decision.

UPDATE (15:17 GMT): The Home Office now issued a statement regarding Tyler's ban, as follows:

"Coming to the U.K. is a privilege, and we expect those who come here to respect our shared values. The Home Secretary has the power to exclude an individual if she considers that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good or if their exclusion is justified on public policy grounds."

So a couple of days ago Tyler, The Creator cancelled a string of UK tour dates for unspecified reasons. Those reasons have now been specified. And it turns out the live shows were cancelled because the UK government has banned him from entering the country. Not just for this summer, or what's left of it, but for 3–5 years. That's a long time.

Tyler tweeted the news last night:

BASED ON LYRICS FROM 2009 I AM NOT ALLOWED IN THE UK FOR 3-5 YEARS ( although i was there 8 weeks ago) THAT IS WHY THE SHOWS WERE CANCELLED.

"Tyler has been banned from entering the UK for somewhere between 3 to 5 years per a letter from the secretary of state for the home department of the united kingdom. [i.e. Home Secretary, Theresa May] The letter specifically cites lyrics he wrote 6-7 years ago for his albums bastard and goblin – the type of lyrics he hasn’t written since… Highlights from the letter include that his work “encourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality” and “fosters hatred with views thats seek to provoke others to terrorist acts.." i grew up on NWA, eminem and rage against the machine, so its hard to me to fully wrap my head this thought process and its implications."

It has, however, sparked a markedly different reaction to the time earlier this year when Tyler was banned from Australia; initially he wasn't actually officially banned, but thought he was or was going to be, and highlighted the individual responsible (Coralie Alison, member of women's advocacy group, Collective Shout) in a tweet – his fans and other belligerents proceeded to complain directly to Alison. Think death threats, rape threats, "hope you get cancer", etc. It wasn't a great moment for Tyler fans, and served only to fan the flames of disquietude on the part of those wanting to get Tyler banned in the first place. In the end, T cancelled his own tour: Tyler 0 – Australia 1.

The difference in the UK is that, instead of being aimed at a specific individual – which only ever seems to get Twitter all a-fluster – the outrage goes directly to the UK government. No, we're not taking to the streets, or sending threats to Number 10, because that's not very British; instead a few petitions have popped up, aimed at getting Tyler un-banned from the UK.

This one goes directly to parliament, but must get 100,000 signatures and officials must "check it meets the petition standards" before it is published.

This other one, however, was launched on Change.org and counts over 200 signatures already. If you're outraged, register that outrage and sign. Remember: it's not only Tyler whom we should be feeling bad for, but also ourselves. We have done nothing to not deserve to see an artist perform live, no matter how much our predominantly middle-aged, un-pop-cultured government might tell us it's for our own good, like a blustering, ineffectual parent.